Browser background not being set to grey in production

PhoneAssistant.WPF/Features/Phones/EmailView.xaml.cs

@@ -1,20 +1,35 @@
-using System.Windows.Controls;
+using System.ComponentModel;
+using System.Windows.Controls;
 
 namespace PhoneAssistant.WPF.Features.Phones;
 
 public partial class EmailView : UserControl
-{    
+{
     public EmailView()
     {
         InitializeComponent();
-        InitializeAsync();
+
+        // Don't run the WebView2 initialization when the XAML designer is active
+        if (DesignerProperties.GetIsInDesignMode(this))
+            return;
+
+        _ = InitializeAsync();
     }
-    async void InitializeAsync()
+    async Task InitializeAsync()
     {
+        try
+        {
+            if (WebView2 is null)
+                return;
 
-        await WebView2.EnsureCoreWebView2Async(null);        
-        //WebView2.CoreWebView2.Profile.PreferredColorScheme = Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Core.CoreWebView2PreferredColorScheme.Light;
-        WebView2.DefaultBackgroundColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGray;
+            await WebView2.EnsureCoreWebView2Async(null);
+            WebView2.CoreWebView2?.Profile.PreferredColorScheme = Microsoft.Web.WebView2.Core.CoreWebView2PreferredColorScheme.Light;
+            WebView2.DefaultBackgroundColor = System.Drawing.Color.LightGray;
+        }
+        catch (Exception)
+        {
+            // Swallow exceptions during initialization to avoid crashing the XAML designer
+        }
     }
     private void DeliveryAddress_TextChanged(object sender, TextChangedEventArgs e)
     {